Morgan Hentz to suit up for Team USA on home soil for VNL Round 3
Morgan Hentz is no stranger to international volleyball competitions with the U.S. National Team. She has competed in multiple major events, including the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), the 2023 FIVB Road to Paris Qualifier, the 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship (silver medalist) and the 2022 World Championship (4th place) among others.
This week, she’s gearing up for the third round of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League competition. But unlike in the previous two rounds in Brazil and Serbia, this time she’ll be representing Team USA on U.S. soil in Arlington, Texas.
This year’s American VNL roster is 30 players deep, featuring a mix of young talent with varying levels of national team experience. The first round presented a bit of a learning curve for the squad.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Team USA faced tough losses to Italy, Brazil, and Czechia, but bounced back with a 3-0 win over Korea. The team saw significant improvement in Round 2, where they flipped their record with wins over Serbia, Netherlands, and France, and a tough loss to Poland in Belgrade, Serbia.
“It’s super cool to see some of these fresh young faces just going for it with a lot of courage and bravery, and I feel like that’s helped me as well,” Hentz said of the diverse 2025 roster. “So that’s been really neat to see, along with some more veteran players who bring that sense of poise and stability. So the combination of the two has been really fun and exciting to be a part of.”
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Team USA has experimented with different combinations of players on the court, and when Hentz is on the floor, she locks things down defensively. Over her four starts, she tallied 35 digs (averaging 8.75 digs per set), with a competition-high 12 digs coming against Czechia in round two.
Hentz, who’s established herself as one of the most dominant defenders in Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball history, is no stranger to shuffling rosters and embraces the ever-changing nature of the VNL competition.
“We’ve been mixing our rosters and just who’s playing game to game, and so that reminds me a lot of Athletes Unlimited, having to learn the person next to you and how they play at their best in a short amount of time,” she said. “But it’s something I enjoy. It’s another fun challenge, while maybe some other teams in the world have been playing with each other for, geez, like five-plus years, and it’s been a pretty similar lineup.”
For Rounds 1 and 2, that mix of American players also included AU standout Molly McCage, who made a significant impact in the middle blocker position.
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In Round 3, the chance to play on U.S. soil presents extra benefits for the Americans, as well as some added pressure.
“I do think there is a different kind of pressure with it,” Hentz said. “You want to represent well when you have fans that may have been following those PVF, LOVB seasons, and Athletes Unlimited seasons … Second, it’s great to be able to have family and friends come out and support. I know Texas is actually a home state for a lot of the players, which is really incredible.
“Just being here in the States, playing for Team USA, with the jersey on your back is something that’s really special.”
The Round 3 VNL Schedule in Arlington is as follows:
- July 9 at 5:30 p.m. PDT vs. Thailand
- July 10 at 5:30 p.m. PDT vs. Dominican Republic
- July 12 at 5:30 p.m. PDT vs. Canada
- July 13 at 5:00 p.m. PDT vs. China
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
